The Federal Government has expressed disapproval of the palliative works on the 34-kilometre Ikorodu-Itokin road and ordered the contractor to mobilise back to the site or risk arrest.
Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed this during his ongoing inspection of Federal Government projects in Lagos.
The Minister, who had already visited the 78-kilometre Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway and the Lagos-Badagry-Seme Border highway, also known as the ECOWAS Road, frowned at the level of work done by the contractor, Geld Construction Ltd, as palliatives and asked them to return to the site.
Umahi also directed the contractor to come up with the cost implication of the new design, which is going to be much cheaper and more durable than what they are doing.
He said, “It’s a better design, and it’s a professional design.”
He, however, warned that if, by Monday, the contractor fails to resume, he will hand the matter over to security agencies.
He said: “I can’t remember how long the contractor has been on the project, but we have had funding challenges.
“But with the little we have, the contractor says he’ll use it to do palliatives. We disagree with him on the volume of palliatives he says he’s doing. He has to return the money to active construction. He has demobilised from the site—that’s a breach of contract.
“We are giving him 24 hours to return to the site. We’ve done appreciable funding. The President is very much interested in this route. He has directed that we should complete this route.
“What the contractor is doing is not acceptable because what is happening is that they are removing the existing asphalt and then increasing the route by 20cm. That is a complete destruction of the surface.
“We are giving it as a directive all over the nation. From henceforth, no Controller is allowed to permit contractors to remove any existing asphalt. All we need to do is to improve on the asphalt. If it is bad, we mill it and then overlay it. And we have directed the contractor to immediately remobilise to the site.
“What we have approved is to show that the road has got no shoulders. So we are going to reconstruct or do brand-new shoulders, 1.5m on each side, using continuous reinforced concrete.
“But for the carriageway, 7.3m, we are going to mill it and then put a binder course of 60mm and a wearing course of 40mm. The road is very stable, but the pavement is gone.
“We have invited the contractor to come on Sunday by 12 o’clock for a meeting. We also directed him to come with the cost application of the new design, which is going to be much cheaper than what they are doing and is also going to be more durable. It’s a better and [more] professional design.
“Let me warn that if the contractor fails to resume, we will hand over the roads and the contractor to security agencies. We will not continue to pursue contractors. We have the law of the land, and nobody takes the money of the Federal Government and goes to sleep. So they are actually going to remobilise to the site within 24 hours.
“If we get to Abuja by Monday and work is not ongoing, we will hand over the roads, the contractor, and ourselves—Minister of Works—to security agencies to investigate all of us.”
Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works, Lagos, Mrs Olukorede Kesha, said the contractor has only completed one kilometre of the project, with 33 kilometres remaining.
She stressed that the existing pavement of 7.3m will be expanded to 10.3m, meaning an expansion of 1.5 metres on both sides of the 34-kilometre road, first constructed in 1975 during the regime of Gen. Yakubu Gowon, who was Nigeria’s Head of State, and Brig. Gen. Mobolaji Johnson, who was the pioneer military governor of Lagos.
On the 78-kilometre Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Expressway awarded to Julius Berger about eight years ago, Umahi said the Federal Government has completed one carriageway, while the Ogun State Government has taken over about 60 kilometres within the state.
The minister said the Federal Government intends to award the remaining 18 kilometres and then wait for the Ogun State Government to finish their portion.
After that, he said, the government will take over the road under an operate-and-maintain program for the benefit of both the federal and state governments.
He expressed confidence that within the next two months, Julius Berger will start the design because all the necessary personnel required to complete the process are available.
Umahi also disclosed the government’s resolve to encourage indigenous contractors for projects within their scope.
